Hydraulic regainer.



W. M. WHITE. HYDRAULIC REGANER. APPucmon man nu z8. ma.

1,273,557. Patented July 23.19111 3 `SHEETS-SHEET l.

UUDUEIDDCIDCIIJ maven' i/ 7/2064/757 4 l m@ 64M kn/@M W. Mi WHITE. HYDRAULIC BEGMNEH.

Armcmon msn mv ze. |913.

Patented July 23, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SNEET 2.

c M/IA/[Lh/ W. M. WHITE.

HYDRAULIC REGAINEP..

APPLwATIoN FILED MAY 2p. 1913.

1 27 3, 557 Patented July 23,1918,

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

l I l l x 4 UNITED sTATiis PATENT ortica.

WILLIAM M. WHITE, or MILWAUKEE, wIscoNsI'N. HYnaAtr'LIc inmitten 4Epecliliatioii o! Letters intent.

Patented J uly 243, 1918.

IApplica'titui led Kay 28, 18,13. Serial No. 789,791.

for the' draft tubes4 ordinarily used withy Water Wheels.

In my copending application, Serial No. 774,528, filed June 13, 1913, I have clairned a method of operating water Wheels in which the available head acting on the wheel is increased, due to certain' peculiarities of opera-i tion; also the method of handling theV water discharged from the wheel runner whereby such Water is delivered to the tail race with minimum loss in energy.

In the lusual practice the draft tubes from water wheels are in the conduits tapered from one diameter at the runner of the Water wheel to a larger diameter at the end of the draft tube.' In the `latest practice the draft tube is curved in shape so as to dischar e the water in the direction of its flow own the tail race. These draft tubes are made of plate steel or of concrete. Y

vOn account of the small distance between the horizontal .center line of the' water wheel and the leveLof the Water in the tail race, it is usually necessary to make sharp bends inthe draft tubes; also for the same reason Ythe draft tubes' are flaredr or increased in diameter rather quickly.4 In other words, on account of the small space available, the draft tub'e is not given the' proper shape in order to obtainV the best results.

. To one familiar with the art it is readily understood.' that in order tfo obtain a high rotative speed of the runner, it i's` necessary t0 keep theA outer diameter 4of the runner to a small diameter and at the same time in order to obtain a maximum amount of power for given conditions of head and speed it is necessary to permit excessive How through the runner diameter mentioned above, 'Ihe result is that there is corisiderable velocity, and, consequently, kinetic energy, m "the form of circular Water just as it leaves the turbine runner. I n modern practice in the matter of relatively high speed Wheels this kineticener'gy may amount to as much as 20%of the total ener available in the total head under whic the plant isl operated. Since plant eiiciency is of prime importance, .it is evide nt that it is very desirable to make use of this kinetic energy in the high velocity 'of the water as it leaves the water wheel runner, to the end that the greatest mechanical sure just underneath 'the runner is less than Vthat in the tail race as measured from the surface of the water.

lThis action takes place in accordance with Bernoullis law Which is stated in Treatise `on Hdrarulzcs. by Merriman, edition 1903,

page 6, as follows: l

At any section of a tube or ipe, under steady flow without friction, t e pressure head plus the velocity head is equal to the hydrostatic head that obtains when thereis no flow.

As'recited, above, the velocity of How from the runner is necessarily xnade great for the reasons given. The velocity headplus the pressure head at the runner would' be equal to the velocity head plus the 'ressure head in the tail race at the same ing friction and eddy losses. The ve ocity head at the discharge of the runner is sometimesl made la large percentage of the total head acting on'the plant, say for example,

20%. The draft tube is usually of icreas ytion tliepressure head plus the l20% velocity `hea at the runner would be equal to the 'power for a given quantity of water may be evel ne' ectico the tail race or, in other words, in this case the pressure head (or equivalent free water surface) at the runner would be 17 of the total head less than- (or lower than) the pressure' head (or surface of) the tail water at 4the end of the draft tube. For example, should the head on a water power plant be twenty feet from the surface of the water above the plant to the surface of the water in the tail race, then, neglecting friction, and in accordance'with the above exam le the equivalent surface of the water at t e runner would be 3 4/10ths feet below the surface of the tail water. In other words, the efective head on the water wheel producing flow through it would be 23 4/10ths feet. However, on account of the limited space availablefor' the installation of the usual form of draft tube, the greatest energy is not regained and my invention contemplates the substitution for the draft tube of a regainer which may be installed within the space available and yet transform with maximum eliciency the kinetic energy in the water from the runner into potential energy in the tail race. v

Thedevice which I propose tosubstitute for the draft tube consists of a disk or cone placed in the line of the flow of the water from the runner, whereby the water will be deflected along continuous 'passages of in-v creasing area. d

The action described in the foregoing description of this invention relating to the ltransformation of kinetic energy into potenltial energy inthe manner described, is advantageous but incidental. The prime object in the installation of the disk or cone and the deflection of the water, substantially as outlined, is for the purpose of obtaining a radial flow in order to take advantageof the whirling action of the water as it leaves the runner.

In a Water wheel there are pivoted guide vanes for controlling and directing the water to the revolving runner; there is a runner composed of varies providing curved disc arge passages between the vanes.. The waterflows into the vanes and through these passages and discharges from the runner in a direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the runner. The relative rotation of the discharge water withy reference to a fixed point isdependent upon the velocity of the water through the runner an'd the rotation of the runner. In designing water wheel runners the object `is to so relate the wat-er passage of the runner and guide vanos. that thev velocity of water flowing from the runner lpassage will cause no whirl in the discharged water when the runner is rotating at normal speed; in other words, so that th water will flowverti'cally downward in Vcase of tlwI nennl straight draft tube applied to a 4face of the tail water.'

vertical water wheel'. It is evident, however, that this condition can appl theoretically at only one setting of the gui e vanes; that is, at one power Vand speed. As a matter of fact, from tests made by means of Pitot tubes, it has been determined that seldom if ever does the water flow in straight lines s Outlined above. Therefore it is evident that when the guide vanes or distributing gates arc closed to Such a point that half the quantity of Water is delivered to the turbine and the speed of the turbine maintainednormal, the velocity of the Water from the runner passagesl now is half what it was formerly so that there must be a whirl in the water in the'direction of the revolving runner due to the difference in relative velocities between the discharge water andthe runner.

The absolute velocity of the water being the combination of thc` downward'and whi rling velocities 'as above described non7 may be much greater than when the amount of water discharged was such that theoretically there should be downward discharge from the runner. In other words, although the quantity of Awater through the runner is decreased by one-half, the absolute velocity .and consequently the kinetic energy in the Water is greater than before, so that at this load, some device for transforming this kinetic energy into potential energy is of as great orY greater importance than in the first described case.-

I am now providing in the passages, substantially as shown, a space in which this water may Whirl and by its centrifugal action; produce a lower absolute pressure at th'e center ofthe 'runner than the absolute pressure as measured at the level of the sur In other words, energy is regained in a dilferent yway from that first described. The annular passage formed by the Walls of,the chan'lber and the surface of the cone' or disk is such that the water whirling may pass outward and down- ,wardA along a passage of increasing section with the least disturbance. The passage is suc that the total water in it may be in a whirling condition and kept in this whirling condition by.continu ed application of water fronrthe runner .in a whirling statoA so that there is in thefpassage as described a wheel of revolvingivater. The moving,r water as described, has centrifugal force and causes a difercnce in pressure between its inner and outer diameter and the amount of thisnifercnee is dependent upon the width i of the whirling water radially and its tangential velocity:` A particle of water lcav# .the Same relation as Fig. 1, and,

Asuitable gates whereby th passage shown and gives u- I or changes its inetie energy into potentie energy on this account. i

It is understood that in a draft tube of the usual design a column of' water ifs maintained. When the centrifugal action' re-` ferred to, caused by the whirling of the water at the end of the runner venes, takes effect in the column of water, an outer portion of the column is given a rotating action whereas the inner portion or strata of Ithe column have less or no rotation. This causes a conflict of currents the effect being ebullition or whirling throughout the enA tire column causing in some instances the displacement upwardly of the inner portion of the column, this inner portion again passf ing near and sometimes through the runner varies.

Thus'fit will be seen that by the employ tuent of the reganer referred to, no column of water is maintained in which this confilet of currents can be Set up, the water falling into the gradually increasing area in direi-gent lines without opposition.

*The invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figurel is a transverse, vertical section' o a typical p ower station, showing the app icatlon of one form of regainr" at right angles to Fig. 3' is an enlarged transverse'section In ection through the Fig. 4 is a horizonta water wheel, parts"being broken away to show the regainer in the plant.

Referringvto the drawings andm'ore particularly tp Fig. 1, it will be seeny that the surface of the head water is indicated at 10z there being a passage 11. controlled' by e 'water is admitted through the adjustable guides 12, to the vaes 13, of a turbine. Power istrans- `I'nitt'ed from the turbine by means of a shaft 14, directly connected to a generator 15. Inter osedinr the space beneath the turbine is a disk-like deliector 16, arranged whereby a space 1T, is provided there above, this space accommodating' water discharged from the turbine and ermittinga divergent flow thereoffin all directions in such manuel' that thevelocity of the water is transformed into pressure.l On reference to Fig. '1 it will be seen that the capacity ofthe chamber at 21 (.Fi'g'. l), is greater than the vcapacity at the cross section 2 ,0-n-20, and' also rcater than thecapacity of the annular disclarec section 22, 22, leadin from said cham r. The cone or-disk-li 'estructure 16, is supported on suitable piers 18. Y 4

The water flows through the guide members at 19, through the runner at 20. `is del'ected at 21, by the cone 16, and thereafter Fig. 2 i's an enlarged longitudinal section whirl or backward or forward flow with or against the vancs.

The stream lines at 28 indicate the flow of the water when the turbine is running at part load, the water theny whirling in the direction of the runner due to the fact'that the velocity of the water between the runner vanes is less than the speed of the vanes. The. lines at 29 .show ow in a direction opposite to the rotation of the runner which 'condition mayarise when guides are wide open and the turbine is developing high power without'maximum elliciency, Ithat is, the velocity oft-he water between the Yanes is greater than the speed rotation of the vanee.

The piers-18 are continuous below the disk 16, but end at the points 30, which points are placed about Aequi-distant radially from the center of the wheel. At this point the piers extend upwardly and afford a support to the turbine pit y floor. The. upstream ends 31,32 of the piers .are angularly disposed in order that they may collect their proper proportion of the water discharged over the disk to the end that there may be an equal velocity flowing from bc- Atvveenthe'piers at the pointsv 23, 2G, 33, 34,

The angle of the general discharge ns sage with reference to the vert-ical line o the wheel may be varied at will to suit conditions. In low head plants the cone will probably be made flatter and nea-rer a disk, whereas in high head plants the delector will. preferably be more in the form of a cone.

It will be noted that in the construction shown I have employed concrete. It will lie understood that the walls forming the pussagcways from the regainer may be constructed of other material tha-n of concreto, as "shown, as for instance. cust iron. plate steel. wood or a combination of am' of these. It will also be understood that the arrangement shown is onlfy typical and may lic varied widely. I do not therefore wish to be limited to the exact construction shown.

By water wheel under the present specilication and claims, I mean awater wheel, hydraulic turbine or any hydraulic power'- produ'cing apparatus having a runner of such 'form as to cause the Water to'be discharged from it;J preferably axially to they rotation of the runner, and I mean especially any hyraulic power apparatus which may be used with my invention for the accomplishment ,of the results claimed. One type of a water Wheel in the meaning' of the specification and claims is illustrated in the drawings.

rially greater diameter than the Wheel,

whereby the whirling discharged Water is mitted to follow the direction of its natural tendency, which is outward from the center of rotation.

2. vIn a device of the class described, the combination of a. Water-Wheel having a Water-discharge passage, and a deiiector located in said passage and immediately adjacent and opposite to said wheel whereby the W of the Water is changed iiroin axial to substantially radial,said deflector and a 1ivall of the water-discharge passage defining a space of progressively increasing capacity wherein the Water is permitted to expand' whereby the velocity head of the water is transformed into pressure head, substantially as described.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a Water Wheel and a Water discharge passage, a defiector located inl said passage and projected across the axis of said Water Wheel substantially radially thereof, said defiector and the walls of said passage above said deflector defining a chamber of increasing capacity in the directionof HOW of water, said deiector causing divergent flow of water in a space of progressively increasing capacity whereby the velocity head ofthe Water sure head, substantially as described. Y

4.' In a device of the class described, the combination of a Water-wheel having a water-discharge passage, and a deliector'located in saidpassage immediately adjacent to said Water Wheel and disposed substantially radial to the axis thereof, said detlector having a form such as to cause di'- vergent flow of Water with a radial 4coinponent inail directions from said discharge passage ina space of progressively increasing capacity whereby `the velocity-head of the wateris transformedl intopressure head,

substantially as described.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a water-wheel having a Water-discharge passage, and a substantially conical deflector ocated in said passage, said conicaljdeilector forming with curvedgwalls above a chamber of increasin capacity in the direction of flow, said de ector causing is transferred into pres-4 ner tube over which said wheel is mounted,

said tube being flared outwardly in all directions beneath said runner, and a deiector wall disposed transversely across the axis of the ruimer tube and substantially radially thereof, havin a substantially ,conical surface and forming a. passageway between the conical surface of the Wall and the adjacent surface of the tube through which passage'- ivay `the Water is caused to flow.

7. In a pressure regainer for water Wheels,

the combination of a `Water Wheel runner having an open space adjacent thereto, a deiector extending across said space and providing a iiaring passage .opening di,- rectly to the runner blades, arranged so that water discharged from said runner is at once permitted to expand radially` in a space of.

progressively increasing capacity. substantially as described. 1

8. `In a device for converting ,velocity head 'into pressure head, the-combination of a water wheel runner having an open space immediately thereb'eneath, and a 'defiector projected across said space, leaving a free passage from the wheel to the center of the deiector, the arrangement being such that'` water discharged froni'the runner with en'- ergy inthe form of velocity is at once caused to expand radially Within a space of rogressivelv increasing capacity, substantially as described. V

9. In apressure regainer for Water wheels,

the combination of a runner havin an `open space tlierebeneath, said ,space eing arranged at and about .the `axis of said runner, and a delector rejected across Vsaid space and `arranged sullistantiallyat right angles to the rotativo axis of the runner, whereby Water discharged from tlie runner and con# taining energy in the form ofr velocity iS caused .to enter and radially expand Within a space of progressively increasing capacity, substantially as described.

10. In a pressure regainer for 'Water Wheels, the combination of a runnerliaving.

an open space therebeneath, saids ace `being arranged at and about the axis o saidrun ner, and a substantially conical deiector projected charged forceis permitted to whirl and follow a spiral ath within a space of progressv of the water in the forni v of velocity may converted into energy in the form of pressure, substantially as described.

,11". In a pressure regainer for vater across said space whereby water d s-` from said runner with a tangential 1y increasing capacity in order that the energy i 4- charged frointhey runner with a tangential component offorce is caused toinnnediately enterand continue itswhirling action in a 'space of progressively increasing capacity in order that its energy in the form of velocit)Y may be changed into energy in the form of pressure, substantially as described.

lil. The combination witha water wheel having a discharge passage from the ruimer oi said wateinwheel, of a detiector located in such passage from the runner', said deflector causing substantiallyradial llow of discharged water in all directions and permitti-ng a portion of said water to flow around and behind said detle'ctor, substantially as described.

13. In a pressure regaincr for water wheels, the'combination with a water wheel having a @runner with inward and axial dlscharge' of a dellector located in said passage from said runner, said deflector ,causing su `stantlally r dial flow 1n all dIrections into a space of progressively increasing capacity, said detlector being disposed to permit a portion of the discharge water to pass around and und'erneath said deflector, sub- Y stantially as described.-

14. The combination, with a water wheel, of a regainer comprisinCr a discharge chamber and a' detlecting surfbace disposed therein transversely across the discharge of the Wheel and substantially radially thereof to form an inclined annular passage for re ceiving the water from theJ Wheel, said annular passage communicating directly with the discharge end of the Wheel.

15. The combination, with a Water wheel, of adischarge conduit therefor including a llared tube, the walls of said tube `diverging outwardly in all directions from the runner passage of the Wheel and a Idelector d1s the del-lector.

posed in said iflared tube transversely across the discharge of thewheel and substantially radially thereof to form with the Walls' of the tube an annular dischargetissage oommunicating directly with the dlischarge end of the Wheel to permit the free discharge of the water coming from the runner.

16. The combination with a water Wheel, ot' a discharge chamber coinmunicatin directly with the discharge end of said Weel, a letlector disposed in said chamber transversely across the discharge of the wheel to 'torni with the upper walls of said chamlber a passageway to deflect the water from the wheel from axialto approximately radial How in all directions, walls disposed in Lsaid chamber below said detlector to form flaring passageways, a portion of said Water passing around and under said deflector and through said passageways below rthe deflector whereby the velocity head of the water ma)- be changed into pressure head.

1T. The combination with a Water Wheel, ot' a discharge chamber located directly be.-` neatlr said wheel, a de'flectr disposed in said chamber transversely across the of the wheel and substantially y radially thereofto form with the upper `walls of said chamber a passageway to deflect the Water passing from the wheel from axial to outward flow in all directions, a portion of said water Hector.

18. The con'ibination with the discharge of a water wheel, of a chamberhaving an inlet communicating with the said discharge, and a dcllector located in said chamber and disposed opposite the inlet and transversely of the water wheel discharge and substantially radially thereof, said dellector having its periphery terminating short of the walls of the chamber and divlding said chamber into opposite compartments communicating with one another around the periphery of WILLIAM M. WHITE. Witnesses CHAS. F. MURRAY, T.\D. BUTLER.

discharge.

passing around and under said de 

